Whale of a Time
by Blueninja33
Summary: It all starts at Navy Pier, but when Morgan shows up things start to get complicated. Harry/Murphy ship. A/N: Finished the prequel "They Came From Chicago" and am now working on finishing this one.
1. A Day at the Beach

Whale of a time.

**A/N**: None of the characters belong to me. I wish they did, I need to pay off student loans.

**General Info:** Takes place in Bookverse. Also, no Lash. I tried, but I'm not very good with her.

**TIMELINE:** Set sometime around White Night: Murphy's been demoted and Harry's hand is O.K.

* * *

My name is Harry Dresden. I'm just an average Joe, a working man. I have my own office, car and rent an apartment. I'm not the richest guy on the planet, but I get by. I'm a consultant for the Chicago Police department; I have a rather special skill set that they find useful from time to time. I'm a wizard. I cast spells, make potions, fight monsters and generally kick ass. I don't do love potions, endless purses, birthday parties and I don't wear tall pointy hats. I'm also the only person listed in the phone book under "Wizard." Today I was working with the CPD out at Navy Pier. There had been several reports of boats disappearing with people on the near the Pier. That's why I'm out here on a boat putting around the pier.

"Harry…….you……ere?" A pleasant voice, garbled partly by static, came over the radio on my boat. I sighed, technology hates me.

"Yeah, Murph. I'm here." I spoke slowly into the microphone. Sergeant Karrin Murphy, one of my best friends, used to be the officer in charge of the Special Investigations Unit for the CPD, until police politics got her demoted. She was one hell of a woman. Standing at just over five feet tall (almost two feet shorter than myself) she had the attitude of a giant. And she deserved it too; she'd been studying Aikido for most of her life and had begun teaching it to me as well. Even with magic I wouldn't want to fight her. It was just the two of us on this one; one benefit of her demotion was that it didn't look odd for her to investigate things by herself.

" I've…..the thing…..position. ….sure th….work?" This time the voice was more skeptical.

"Don't worry Murph. Just keep it pointed in my general direction and I'll do the rest." I put the microphone back onto its holder and set the boat on a course that sent it between the most recent attack sites. It was smooth sailing for a while; I ended up circling the area several times whistling the _Gilligan's Island_ theme song.

"Harry, how much longer is this going to take?" The radio decided to work for more than two second intervals. "I don't like the idea of you using yourself as bait." Twice it worked, today might just be one of those days where everything fits together. And maybe I'll win the lottery three times in a row.

"Don't worry Murph. It's just _a three hour tour._" I'd been waiting to make that joke for almost week, but this was the first time I had a chance to be in an appropriate situation. Maybe it says something about my personal life that I sit around and think up witty things I can reference. I need a girlfriend. "Don't worry, I can handle this."

Just after I said that the radio began to screech with feedback before sparking a bit and then, with an almost comical puff of smoke it died. I got an odd feeling at the back of my neck and peered over the side of the boat just in time to see a great big dark mass surging up to me.

"Hells bells." I turned around, grabbed my staff and jumped off the boat. It was just in time too, right after I jumped a huge head came out of the lake and swallowed my boat--whole-- and sank back down. A Leviathan had just tried to eat me.

Don't look so surprised, most major lakes around the world have a Leviathan living in them. Ever heard of the Loch Ness Monster? Most Leviathans are actually fairly gentle and quiet creatures, but just like with any animal—magical or not—something can set them off. Fortunately, I had planned on it being one of the two giant sea creatures in Lake Michigan being behind this. The other being a lesser Kraken, but don't worry it mostly just eats Gindylows.

Treading water, I reached into one of my pockets and pulled out a sports bottle half filled with liquid. It was a levitation potion that I made for myself just in case. See, us wizards are smart. I took one big mouthful, grimacing slightly at the Red Bull I had put in it, and put it back into my duster pocket. Within several seconds I got a slight head rush feeling and began to rise out of the water and continued to rise until I was about two feet above the water. Oh yeah, I was flying…kinda.

I only had a few moments to enjoy the feeling of being weightless before I got that feeling at the back of my neck again. I looked to my right to see the Leviathan coming at me along the surface of the water like shark. Its head breached the surface and I locked eyes with it for a second before I gathered my will, thrust my staff to my side and said, "_Vento_." A force of wind pushed me out of the way of the oncoming Leviathan, but that doesn't stop it from jumping at me and thrashing its long tongue at me, and slapping me with it. The impact actually spun me around and left a thick coating of slime on me. Something in my mind started to nag me about Leviathan mucus, but I pushed that to the back of my head and focused on taking this thing out.

In preparation for fighting a large sea creature, Bob and I had come up with a rather different plan. Magical creatures generally have a natural resistance to magic and Leviathans and Krakens were no exception. Given that they are water dwellers, my fire magic was at a serious disadvantage. To take this thing out, I would have to use lightning magic. I had very little experience with lightning magic, so the best plan we could come up with was to replicate the time that I had harnessed a bolt of lightning in order to banish a demon. I had placed five special energy gathering talismans on the Navy Pier Ferris Wheel and was using the wheel itself as my circle. Murph had set up two more foci on the roof of the convention center in order to focus the energy into a blast.

Looking over to the rooftop I see Murphy standing next to the focus and holding a big thumbs-up over her heard. Everything was ready. Gathering some will I pointed my staff at the wheel, muttered "servitas" and released invisible energy to activate the talismans to begin to draw in the natural magic of the area. They would need a couple minutes to gather enough energy. Taking another drink of my levitation potion and muttering a quick "Think happy thoughts," I began to tempt and avoid the Leviathan.

The next three minutes went by fast. It would attack, I would dodge. It hit me with its tongue a couple more times, but nothing serious. I had to admit, despite my situation, I was having a blast. And why wouldn't I? .Flying. Ok, I was levitating and pushing myself around with wind magic but who cares: I was moving without touching the ground. Then I felt it: a little burst of magic, like someone poking you on the back of the neck. The talismans were ready.

Turning towards the pier, I gave Murph the signal that it was ready.

"Hey Murph! It's ready!" I need to learn some hand signals, they look cooler.

Murphy gave another thumbs-up, checked the position of the focus and then backed away. She really didn't have to back that far away, in theory the first focus should send all the energy to the second in a finely concentrated beam. But then again my plans and spells never work perfectly.

"It's bottom of the ninth here in Chicago," I say to nobody in particular as I lower myself closer to the water, tempting the Leviathan, "Harry Dresden steps up to the plate."

I begin to look around for the Leviathan, my timing needs to be pretty good if this is going to work.

"It's all tied up and he's got 3 balls and 2 strikes. He needs to hit it out of the park if he wants the win." The Leviathan was charging at me from about 100 yards out.

"Here's the pitch," 60 yards, I need him closer.

A second passes and he's at 40 yards, at his speed this should work.

"Here's the swing," I open my left hand and face it to the foci. With a release of my will I activate the talismans. 30 yards. Golden pulses of energy release from around the Ferris wheel and rush to the first focus. _Very Death Star_, I thought to myself.25 yards. From there it exits as a beam of golden light straight to the second focus. 20 yards. The energy collects there for a moment before firing right to my outstretched hand. I feel the energy flood into my body, not as painful as the lightning but every bit as powerful. I give the channeled energy an outlet at the end of my staff as I focus on lightning magic. 15 yards.

Grinding my teeth slightly I shout "_Navitas!" _The energy pours from the tip of my staff as a great bolt of lightning just as the Leviathan leaps from the water to devour me. It strikes it slightly left of the center of its head and stops the Leviathan mid air. The electricity courses through its head with such intensity that it's dead before it has a chance to feel any pain. When it hits the water its face is charred and a crater full of ash is all that remains where the blast hit it.

I'm drained from the spell. It took most of what I had just to focus that power and keep it from killing me. Muttering a quick spell I push myself over to the pier and allow myself to float into a dignified and manly heap on the ground. I realized that although I was exhausted, I didn't actually hurt. In fact, I was slightly numb all over. I shrugged it off, it was most likely from that spell.

Eventually Murph sat down next to me. "The talismans all got fried. I put what was left of them back in your bag in the Beatle. Very 'Death Star' spell by the way."

I laughed and said in my best Obi Wan voice, "That's no Ferris wheel. It's a space station."

Murphy laughed a little at that. Then she cleared her through and asked, "So, what are we going to do about the body?"

Shrugging, I continued to lay there as I replied, "Nothing, It'll sink and feed a lot of happy little creatures."

"What about the people and the boats that it ate? What the hell am I supposed to put down for a report?" She sounded more annoyed than angry, and that was good for me. She wasn't going to like what I had to say.

I took a deep breath before saying, "Sorry Murph. This isn't 'Pinocchio' or 'Jonah and the Whale,' when something gets eaten by a Leviathan in the real word, it doesn't come back. If you were to look in its stomach right now you wouldn't even find that police boat I was in." I flinched after saying that. I shouldn't have reminded her about that.

"The boat! What about that Harry?! How am I supposed to explain in my report that a police boat was eaten?" Now she sounded a little angry. Crap.

"Well…..you could always blame it on terrorists. They're popular?" I know. Lame excuse, but people will believe "terrorists with unknown motive" much easier than "a Leviathan ate my boat." Murphy started laughing, a good sign. I decided to open my eyes. When I looked over at her, I noticed that she had rested her head on my shoulder. _That' s odd, I didn't even feel it. That spell must have taken a lot out of me._

She looked up at, still laughing lightly and said, "You know that sad thing is that they'll believe it." I just nodded.

She stood up, ran her hands through her hair, turned around and offered me her hand. "Come on Dresden, you're covered in crap. You need a shower. Let's get you home."

I smacked her hand away. Now, I hadn't intended to, but that's what ended up happening.

"What the hell Dresden?!" Murphy was mad.

I looked at my hands with a certain amount of shock and began to put things together. I had thought that I was getting over the lightning spell and the levitation potion, but then I realized that my entire body felt like it was asleep.

"Stars and stones," I muttered to myself. Collecting some of the goo from the outside of my coat on my index finger I held it up to Murphy and pointed to it with my other hand, "Leviathan saliva."

She looked at my finger then back to me, she was still mad and a little confused. "Yeah, so? What the hell does that have to do with anything?"

Flicking the good off my finger I said, "It's a poison."

* * *

**A/N: Hope you all enjoyed this! It's going to be a while before chpt2 because my MCAT is in a week and a half, so I'm a little preoccupied with that. Haha. Next chapter is has the Harry/Murphy fluff.**

**Right now I do not have a Beta. If anyone reading this would like to take it upon themselves then please send me an E-mail. You will get 25 Theoretical Points, a gold star next to your name and my thanks.  
**


	2. The Wheels on the Bus go Round and Round

**A/N: I know I said that this would take a while to get up, but I was wrong. I also said that this chapter would have some Harry/Murph fluff. It doesn't have nearly as much as I had wanted so I'll have to put more in the next chapter. This is a shorter chapter because I broke up the one very long Chtp2 I had planned and made it into a smaller Chpt2 and Chtp3. Hope you enjoy. Also, I would like to add that this story is slightly AU from Blood Rights in that Murphy and Kinkaid never started going out. **

The tires on the car squealed as Murphy made a hard right onto Clark St. at about 40 MPH, the small police light on her roof flashing and wailing its siren. She looked over at me with her cop face, assessing the situation and taking note of everything. What she had the fortune of seeing was me slouching in her passenger seat in nothing but my boxers. I had Murphy help me out of my clothes that were damp with the saliva from the Leviathan and towel off any that was still on my skin in order to prevent any more from absorbing into my body. To say that we were both blushing afterwards would be an understatement.

Noticing that she was looking at me I couldn't stop myself, "Like what you see Murph?" Any other time I wouldn't have dared ask that, but I wouldn't be able to feel anything she did to me. Plus, when she blushed and turned away quickly that made it worth it.

"How're you feeling Harry?" Ignoring my question, she tried to keep a professional attitude.

Letting my head roll in the head rest so that it faced her, I put on a goofy grin-at least I thought I did-and said, "I'm not. Still numb everywhere."

She narrowed her eyes slightly, still looking at the road as she dodged in and out of traffic. "You're sure you don't want me to take you to—"

"Yes," I cut her off, answering the question for what had to be the 15th time. "A hospital can't help me with this poison. I have everything we'll need in my lab."

"How do you-Hold on," Murphy slowed slightly and made another very dangerous turn at an intersection before continuing, "How do you expect to make any kind of antidote in the state you're in? You couldn't even buckle you're seat belt!"

I looked down at the offending object and stuck my tongue out at it. Looking back up and adjusted how I was sitting to the best of my ability. My movements caught Murphy's attention and she began to trade off looking at me and the road. "Dresden?" Her voice was sharp, but still had bits of concern laced around the edges.

"Don't worry, just adjusting myself." I frowned at that, normally I'm better at phrasing things. Not much better, but whatever. "And to answer your question: I do not expect to make any antidote. I expect you to make one."

"WHAT!?" She looked at me as though I had just told her that she was about to have my child. I briefly thought of what would have to take place for that to occur but pushed it out of my mind, for now.

"Harry, I wouldn't even know….there's no way I could….." Still focused on the road, her face was now much paler than it had before and her grip on the steering wheel had significantly tightened.

"Don't worry Murph, I just need you as an extra pair of hands. I've got help at my place already." Her grip on the steering wheel returned to normal and she nodded her head a couple times.

Several seconds passed before she looked at me with a curious expression. "What help?" She began, "I thought you said that Molly was out of town with her family?"

Molly Carpenter is my apprentice. Eldest daughter of Michael and Charity Carpenter, I had known her and her family for a while. Her father was a Knight of the Cross, a Holy warrior, and her mother might as well have been one also. I was more afraid of her than I was of Murphy. They had taken a weekend trip into Wisconsin for a family reunion.

"That's right." I said, getting ready for a talk that I had been meaning to have with Murphy for a while.

"And Thomas is at that hair dresser's conference in L.A." Thomas is my half brother. He's a White Court vampire. After being effectively kicked out of his home by the other vampires of his House he became a hair dresser at what is now one of the largest salons in town. Nobody besides me, Murph, Molly and a few others knew that he was my brother. If the White Council found out about that, well, it wouldn't be good news for me.

"Yep. And before you ask, the Alphas haven't gotten back from Rockford yet." The Alphas were a group of college kids that had been taught how to turn into wolves. Yes, they were werewolves. There are actually many different kinds of werewolves, but I won't get into that at the moment. The Alphas acted as a group of were-Batmans in Chicago, fighting off magical baddies and lending a hand or paw when I needed it. Most recently they had started to help me takes calls in the magical community for when people needed help. It was a big help, since my Warden duties took up a lot of my time recently.

"So, who's at your apartment? It was empty when we left earlier today. GET OUT OF THE WAY!" The last part was directed to a car in front of us that moved over to the side of the road at a speed that apparently did not meet Murphy's approval. It still shocked me though, so much so that I actually brought my hands up to defend my head from a possible attack. However, because my arms were numb I ended up just hitting myself in the face, twice. I couldn't feel it, but I still groaned in pain anyway. The noise caught Murphy's attention. Looking from the road to me again she put one hand on my shoulder.

"Harry?" Her voice was filled with concern.

"I'm good," the look in her eyes told me that she didn't believe me. Using very careful movement, I moved my hand onto the one she had on my shoulder. "Karrin, trust me."

She looked at me for about a second longer before nodding and placing her hand back on the steering wheel. I let mine flop down into my lap. It sucked being numb, but at least the poison hadn't done too much to me. The fact that I had my duster on stopped a lot of the poison from entering my body by limiting the parts of my body that were exposed to it. I'm sure that if I hadn't had that coat on, enough would have gotten into my system to kill me back at the Pier.

_Just another day in the life_. I thought to myself.

"Were almost to your place, who's going to be there? I'd like to know who I'm going to have to work with." Her voice brought me back out of my brooding. I took deep breath to ready myself.

I looked straight ahead and said, "His name is Bob."


	3. A Spoon Full of Sugar

**A/N: Thanks for patiently waiting for this chapter. This was originally as far as I wanted to take this fic, but then inspiration struck me just before I fell asleep. Hope you enjoy this, I'm going to keep up with the cliffhanging endings, just imagine commercials in between.**

I told Murph all about Bob. Well, I told her as much as I could in the five minutes or so that it took to get back to my place. I explained that he was a spirit of knowledge, that he knew more about magic than any wizard could ever hope to know or understand, he was wanted by the White Council because of who he had belonged to and how he had the dirtiest mind of anyone I knew. That last part seemed to surprise Murph the most.

"I didn't know spirits had a sex drive." Murphy said as brought her car to a rather quick stop in front of my apartment. She ran around the car to my side, helping me out of the car. I was completely numb at this point, it was the oddest feeling I've ever experienced. Trying to walk was a joke for me, my body wouldn't respond to my command. I took a half step but my foot didn't move with my leg and I twisted my ankle and fell over. Fortunately Murphy was there to catch me.

_Dammit, _I thought to myself_, muscle paralysis. Poison's really starting to affect me._

"Such a gentleman," I said in falsetto. In response Murph elbowed me in the ribs. I'm guessing it was hard because it made me sway. "I couldn't even feel it," I teased Murph. She only looked at me with concern and apprehension. I knew why: I should have felt something; the ribs are a pretty sensitive area. The poison was really starting to work.

She dragged me over the stairs and sat me down next to the door to my apartment. She reached in her pocket and pulled out keys, I saw the charm that allowed her past my wards on her key chain; she found the key to my house and unlocked the door. Mister was out the door before it was fully opened, heading out without even taking notice to me. It's nice to be loved by your pets. Mouse's head shot out next followed by 200 pounds of dog. When he saw me his ears perked up and he padded over to me and started to nuzzle my face. Fortunately he didn't start licking me, I wouldn't have been able to stop him.

"He's going to be alright Mouse," Murphy said as she grabbed me under the arms and started to take me into the apartment.

"Hey Mouse," I said as Murph lead me to the couch, "Open the lab and bring Bob up here."

Mouse gave a little huff headed over to the rug that covered the entrance to my lab, grabbed the corner or the rug and pulled it off of the door. He managed to get the handle to the door and threw the door open before hesitantly heading down the stairs.

Murphy could only look at what had just happened with amusement on her face. "That's the smarted dog I have ever seen."

"Yep," I managed to roll my head towards the door to my lab and called out, "Bob! Wake up! I'm poisoned."

"Ugh, it's so early," came a sleepy reply, "just give me-hey! Put me down! What are you doing! I'm not a chew toy! Bad Dog!" Mouse came back up from my lab with a very angry Bob in his mouth. He walked to the coffee table near my couch and placed Bob on it with the skull facing me. Bob promptly spun around and continued to yell at Mouse, oblivious to myself and Murph who was now staring at the talking skull like it was the strangest thing she had ever seen.

"Du riechst wie ein Affenarsch!"

_Great, _I thought to myself, _He's in other languages now._

"Il vostro penis é cosí piccolo che se scopaste un mouse non realizza!"

"Bob!"

"WHAT?!" Bob spun around in place again to look at me, when he did his eyes quickly looked me over. I know it's not possible but I swear he raised an eyebrow at me.

I attempted to motion to Murphy, "We have guests Bob, please try to behave."

He looked up at Murphy, back to me and then did that thing he does where he smiles without actually smiling. "Oh, Harry. Good Job! It's about time! You and the police chic right here on the couch! Brilliant! And you're letting me watch! Oh harry I didn't know you cared! You don't mind if I shout out some suggestions now and then—"

"Bob!" I'm sure that my face was as red as a tomato, "that is NOT what is happening right now. I've been poisoned and I need you to walk Murphy through the antidote."

Again, I don't know how he did it, but Bob's face fell. "Oh. Well alright. What happened this time?"

"Leviathan Saliva."

Bob's eyes shot up to meet mine, "How long?"

" About half an hour," Murphy replied, "and his body's almost completely numb."

"And I'm starting to experience muscle paralysis." Both Bob and Murph both looked at me when I said that and Mouse came over and put his head on my chest.

Bob seemed to think this over for a second before giving a slight nod then turned to Murphy.

"Sergeant, if you would please carry me into the lab I will show you what we need."

Murphy looked at Bob, probably surprised that he was capable of saying 'please', then looked to me. I tried to give her a nod, but it came as a kind of a twitch. Looking back to Bob, she hesitated for a second before grabbing him by the top of his skull and headed down into my lab. Mouse gave a little whine from his place on my chest. I looked down at him and he gave me a little wag of his tail.

"Don't worry pal, I'm going to be fine. Murphy and I take care of each other, it's what we do." That thought made me smile, and looking down at Mouse it seemed to make him smile also. Murphy came back up the stairs with Bob under one arm, a red lidded Tupperware container in one hand and a bottle of baby lotion in the other.

_Not the baby lotion_, I thought to myself, _Murphy's not going to like that._

"Well boss, looks like I was right about buying those Phoenix tears," Bob said quite smugly.

Setting everything down on the coffee table Murphy turned to me and said with a smirk, "I didn't know you were into building models Harry. Have you made any dollhouses for Michaels daughters?"

"Don't make fun of Little Chicago. You have no idea how useful that thing is. "

Her smile grew even larger, "I'm sure it helps you kill loads of free time when you're bored. I'm just surprised that the little El isn't motorized."

I smirked back at her, "I find your lack of faith disturbing."

Bob loudly cleared his nonexistent throat. "I can leave if you'd like and come back later when it's more convenient to save Harrys life."

That comment snapped Murphy back into cop mode. "O.k., what do I have to do?"

Bob turned towards the Tupperware, "Feed him one of those."

Murphy opened up the Tupperware and pulled out what looked like a rounded grey pinecone. She made a face. "What are these?"

"Bezoars." Bob and I answered at the same time. Talking was starting to be very hard for me so I let Bob finish the explanation. "When Harry swallows it, the Bezoar will pull the poison out of his body into itself and then it will pass out of Harrys system in what I can only expect will be a very painful experience."

Both Murphy and I made a face at that. Holding the Bezoar to my mouth Murphy said, "Sucks to be you," then popped it into my open mouth.

After almost choking to death on the Bezoar I mumbled, "Yep."

"Now then," Bob said from his place on the coffee table, "the Bezoar doesn't work right away, in fact it will most likely take several hours to get all the poison from his body. However, we can't afford to leave it in his system for that long without long term effects. Fortunately, most of the poison is still near the skin and muscle tissues so I'm going to need Miss Hot Cop to apply the topical anti-poison that's in the baby lotion bottle."

Murphy glared daggers at Bob. "You're so lucky that I left my gun in the car."

"Yes but you still have your handcuffs with you. We can still have some fun." Bob shot back.

"Bob," I spoke up from my spot on the couch, "Keep that up and I'll make you watch as I burn your book collection."

Bob's eyes seemed to shrink in fear and he simply nodded in understanding.

Murphy looked over to me, still mad from the 'Hot Cop' comment, "I swear, his attitude almost makes me yearn for your outdated chivalry."

Muttering quietly Bob said, "That's not the only thing Harry has that you're yearning for." Sadly, he didn't say it quietly enough. Murphy spun around, grabbed the skull and threw it into the open door to my lab with much more force than was necessary. I heard Bob hit some contain and bounce around on the countertops for a few seconds. It didn't sound like anything had broken.

"Very mature," Came Bob's reply. Mouse padded over to the door to the lab and pulled it shut. Very smart dog.

After taking a few seconds to calm down Murphy turned back to the table and picked up the baby lotion bottle. "So what do I do with this now?"

_Here we go._ "Well, you're going to need to apply that to my skin so it can counteract the poison."

She opened the top, "Alright, where does it need to go?"

Turning a bright shade of red for the umpteenth time that day I managed to say, "Just a thin layer…..anywhere you see skin."

Murph seemed to blush a bit also, "You mean…I have to….you're whole body?"

Still fighting the blush I answered, "Yes. That's where the poison entered so that's where this will stop it."

Murphy just stood over my half naked form holding the bottle of baby lotion, a scene I'd most likely welcome under other circumstances, looking very hesitant.

"If it makes you feel any better, I won't be able to feel a thing," _though I wish I could_, "and I'll keep my eyes closed."

That seemed to do it, Murph poured some lotion into her hand, set the bottle down and moved towards me.

"So this won't, hurt you or anything?" She actually seemed worried about me. Maybe I should get poisoned more often.

"Don't worry Karrin. I'm in good hands." That got me a smile, and I smiled back then closed my eyes. About a minute passed in silence, Murphy applying lotion while I tried to think of anything other than what was happening. If I allowed myself to 'react' the way I know I would have if I had felt what Murphy was doing I was sure she'd either kill me or let me die of the poison. Suddenly Murphy spoke up.

"So what's so special about this lotion? It feels and smells just like normal baby lotion to me."

"Well, for the most part it is. I just added about a half ounce of Phoenix tears to it."

"Phoenix tears? Are you serious? Like in Harry Potter 2 when the Phoenix cries on his cut and he gets better right away?"

"One, you know I don't read those books." I know Murph rolled her eyes at that. I got enough crap about calling myself a Wizard before those books came out but now the fact that my name is Harry and I'm a wizard is the issue. I was here first, not some kid with a scar. He's the copycat.

"Two, not quite like that. While they do work fast, they aren't THAT fast. When they absorb into my skin with the lotion they will counter act the poison pretty quick, but it won't travel very far into my system. That's why I ate the Bezoar, that takes care of the poison that's deep in me and the tears take out the majority of what's still near the surface."

"Huh. So why do you have this just lying around? I think I saw another bottle down there."

"Well, I figured that with the Vampire War going how it is and with what a target I am it would be smart to be ready in case of poison. That's why I got the Bezoars. Bob managed to talk me into buying an ounce and a half of those tears. I spent a half a year's worth of rent on those tears. They aren't cheap, but they'll stop any poison I know of."

"So it is true. You can think sometimes." That got both of us laughing. "I'm glad you thought of that Harry. I don't want to lose you." She added that last part very quietly. I didn't know what to say back to that. I opened my eyes to look at Murph, and when I did I was shocked at what I saw. She was in the middle of kissing my forehead. I became aware that I could feel my limbs slightly now and felt the pressure of her lips on my head. As she pulled pack I saw her eyes were closed and when she opened them she looked right into mine. I looked away from her eyes and at her nose, not wanting a Soulgaze. I could tell that she knew that I had seen her. Placing her hand on my cheek she started to move closer to me.

A sudden pounding at my door causes Murph to jump up into a typical Aikido fighting position, although still holding the bottle of lotion in one hand.

"WARDEN DRESDEN! I KNOW YOU ARE HERE! OPEN UP!"

I recognized the voice, of course it would be him. "Don't worry Murph, open the door. I'll be able to move in a minute or so."

Looking at me for a second Murphy relaxes a little bit and walks slowly to the door, which was still being mercilessly pounded on. Looking back to me once more, she opens the door. A figure pushed by Murphy holding a large dark case. A sword could be seen at his side. All that was needed was for a flash of lightning for dramatic effect.

I decided to at least try to act like a good host. "Hello Morgan."

**A/N: This chapter was actually somewhat difficult for me to write in certain places. But, now it's done. I'm still looking for a Beta if anyone feels like it. I just took my MCAT last weekend, hopefully I did well. Since I have no more tests for the next 2 weeks expect at least one more chapter this month. I'm also thinking of doing a Castle/ Dresden crossover sometime in the future….What do you think?**

**As Always: PLEASE REVIEW!**


	4. Exposition!

**A/N: Yes I have read **_**Turn Coat**_**, but no I do not agree with how the good Mr. Butcher has made Dresden's and Murphy's relationship end up. If you have not read **_**Turn Coat**_** I must insist that you do.**

Morgan stood just inside my door for a moment before answering me with a slight inclination of the head and a malice filled, "Warden Dresden."

He regarded me for a second before turning to look at a very angry Murphy still standing at the door and still holding the baby lotion bottle. I don't know anyone other than Morgan that can so perfectly portray a leer and a smirk.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

Murphy looked to the hand holding the bottle, blushed, tried to hide it behind her back and then walked over to me with what little dignity she could muster and set the bottle down on the table.

"Actually, you were." Morgan quirked an eyebrow and Murphy shot me a glance that had promises of pain. I decided to expand upon my previous statement, "Sergeant Murphy was helping me apply some Phoenix tears to counteract a good dose of Leviathan saliva I acquired while doing my Wardenly duties." Looking down at my arms, I tried to move my fingers. They responded well enough. Those Phoenix tears worked fast, I estimated that in about five minutes I would be able to walk again. But, it would be the rest of the day before all the toxins were out of my body. Regarding Morgan again I decided to chance a question.

"My Grandma, what a big case you have." On cue Mouse walked closer to Morgan and began so sniff at the box.

Morgan's grip on the case tightened and his eyes steeled with resolve, "This case is none of your concern." Mouse stopped sniffing, both his ears shot forward and he placed all his attention onto the case. Interesting. Murphy and I exchanged a glance, she had seen Mouse's reaction also.

Ignoring us, Morgan walked deeper into my apartment with Mouse close on his toes. "I am going to use your telephone. I will have privacy." The last part was directed toward Murphy. And with that he walked over to my phone, set the box down, picked up my phone and dialed much harder than he needed to. After waiting for several seconds he began talking in a hushed voice into the phone. I could have Listened, but I honestly didn't feel like it. My body was at the point of coming out of numbness where it felt like I was being poked everywhere by little needles. It sucked. Taking a deep breath I quickly sat up and manfully grunted against the pain.

"Do you need any medicine? I mean, like _normal_ medicine?" Murphy asked.

"Nah, this'll pass in a little bit. Thanks Murph." Taking a couple more seconds to become adjusted to where I was I looked back over to at Morgan on the phone, with Mouse still keeping a close eye on the box.

"What do you think's in there?" Murph had followed my glance and thought pattern.

"I don't know. But knowing Morgan, and knowing my luck it couldn't possibly be anything non-lethal or stable." I glanced up at Murph and gave her a half-hearted smile. She nodded her head, then she got a serious look in her eyes. Turning fully to me she took a deep breath, blushed slightly and then stared at her feet. I raised an eyebrow.

"Um, Dresden. About….earlier. I just want to-" Her phone decided to save us from the awkward moment by ringing. She looked about as relieved as I did. She turned slightly away from me as she answered her phone.

"Murphy…yes….where…on my way." Closing her phone she turned back to me. "I've gotta go. They just found a body that's been pretty messed up. Looking ritualistic or so they say. I'd ask you to take a look also but…"

"Yeah, I think I'm taking the rest of the day off. But I'll tell you what. In my lab, top shelf right side next to the ladder there is a jar with brown jelly like stuff inside. If you put a little bit under your eyes it'll let you see if there's actually been any Black Magic used. Everything will look darker and just dirty. You'll know it if you see it."

She let herself into my lab and came out shortly after, closing the door behind her. She held the jar in front her and slightly above her head. "This the stuff?"

"That's it."

Taking off the cap she looked into the bottle quickly pulling her head back and holding the bottle at arm's length away. "This smells horrible! You want me to rub this onto my face?"

"Not your face Murph. Just a little under each eye. I know how it smells but the stuff works."

She gave me a look, but finally sighed and put the lid back onto the jar. "Is it possible that you could just, put a spell onto my sunglasses to see things?"

"I'd be happy to, just put me on the clock and I'll enchant a couple things for you. I'll even give you a special discounted rate."

"Ha. Nice try. I'll give you a call tomorrow if I see anything." She made her way to my door and I felt like crap not seeing her out, there are some things that guys just need to do for women. I know my personal sense of chivalry always drives Murphy nuts, but it's who I am. Plus it's fun to mess with her, but more the 'It's who I am.'

"Hey Murph," She stopped halfway out my door to look back in, "My stuff's still in your back seat."

"Oh. Right. I'll bring it up."

I settled back into my couch as the 'pins and needles' feeling continued to grow. Morgan hung up the phone and moved over to the couch, taking the briefcase with him, and looked at me. I looked back at him.

"Can I help you?" Well, that's what I had intended to say. It came out like, "What?"

"It is not by my choice, but this is to be my safe haven for the next few hours until the next safe house is ready." He continued to stand near the far side of the couch holding onto the briefcase.

"What? Why the hell do you need a safe house? Is it because of that thing," I indicated the briefcase and immediately regretted the decision when sharp pokes of pain shot through my arm.

"You do not need to know what is inside this." Morgan said with his ever infuriating calm voice that implied he was better than whoever he was talking to.

I sat there for a moment before saying, "If you are going to be a guest in my house then I ask that you tell me if that case is going to be of any danger to me. Mouse seems to be quite interested in it and that makes me think that it's something with a bit of power. I'm not asking you to give away Council Secrets or anything. I just want to know the situation and why I'm involved because I hate getting dragged into things against my will."

It was now that Murphy came back into my place with my staff, back and coat. She took one look at us and her expression went cop mode. Setting down my coat and bag, she held onto the staff as she kept looking at Morgan. "Harry, you got this?"

I managed to get out a laugh, "Don't worry. He's here on business and is a guest in my house. He won't do anything stupid. Watch out for yourself and give me a call when you've had a look around that crime scene."

She looked at me for a second before her face softened and she nodded once. Turning around she set my staff next to my door and headed out throwing a "get better soon" over her shoulder.

Turning to face Morgan I sighed, "Really, sit on the couch or pull up a chair or something. You're creeping me out."

Looking at me Morgan seemed to be mulling something over in his head. "Do I have your word that I am in fact a—"

I cut him off, "YES! I swear by my power that while you are here you are my guest and I will do all that I can to see that no harm comes to or your magic lunch box." I was a little tired from the day's events; it might have made me a bit crabby.

That seemed to put him at ease. When a wizard swears by his own power, breaking that oath results in bad things. Plus it makes you look bad.

Morgan sat down in the couch that was at about a 60 degree to the one that I sat in. I had gotten it in a garage sale a month ago. We sat in silence for a while, it was uncomfortable.

"Very well." Morgan's sudden vocalization startled me from the half sleep-like state that I had fallen into. "I shall explain what is going on, but this does NOT leave this room."

"Alright." And so Morgan explained what the heck was going on. Like I said, I was kinda out of it so the exact details escape me right now. The gist of the matter was that he was transporting a magical bomb of sorts in the briefcase. It was a new invention from some west coast Wizard. It was powerful enough that Morgan himself was tasked with its delivery to a specialist in Boston. Because of some technical babble that I'd have Bob explain to me later the device could not cross into the Never Never without exploding. That's what the specialist in Boston would fix. In the meantime while Morgan was taking this across country he was resting at safe houses along the way until the one that was set up in Chicago was attacked by Ghouls causing him to crash at my place. And the reason that I was not informed of this was because Morgan deemed me the embodiment of evil etc, etc, etc.

By the time he had explained everything to me I had begun to feel normal again. I stood up and stretched; it didn't hurt too much, I just felt VERY sore. Between the soreness and how tired I was I did something I never thought I'd do.

"Alright Morgan. I've had a bad day and I'm going to sleep now. Whenever it is that you need to leave, leave. All I ask is that you don't touch any of my stuff. If you want there's an extra beer in the fridge that you can have. Mouse, keep an eye on him." I didn't even wait for his reply, I turned around and went right into my bedroom and closed the door. I was asleep right after I hit the bed.

I was woken up about 3 hours later by my phone ringing. Letting out a deep, manly grunt I walked out my door to answer it. I saw that Morgan had left and Mouse was lying down by the door.

I coughed twice before answering the phone so that I wouldn't sound like The Missing Link between man and ape. "Harry Dresden."

"Hey Harry. It's Billy." Billy Borden, leader of the Alpha's. He was out past the suburbs someplace on a call from the Paranet.

"Hey Billy. What's going on?"

"Well, it's this thing in Rockford." Rockford. That's the place. It was a nice little town about 80 miles Southeast of Chicago.

I laughed a bit, "Didn't they call about Pixie problems? Are you telling me that you, Billy the Werewolf, slayer of monsters can't get rid of Pixies? All you have to do is growl at them and they'll run a mile before looking back."

"That's the thing Harry. We were running some scare tactics and got them all out. It was no problem, but now there are some Wind Sprites here. And they've been trying to take us out."

That didn't make any sense, Wind Sprites were typically found in large fields away from civilization and were generally peaceful. "Are you sure about that Billy? It could be something else from Faerie."

"No way. This thing looks just like the picture of a Wind Sprite that you showed us before we left so we'd know what was going on," I had gone through and showed them pictures of common Fae that cause troubles in town like Rockford. "I'm telling you, this thing cut my car in half! With some kinda….wind-blade thing."

"Wind Blade?"

"I don't know what to call it, but it made a bunch of wind, pulled it all back, compressed it in front of it and then shot it at my car."

"Huh." This was odd. That was powerful wind magic he was talking about. A large Wind Sprite would have that kind of power, but it wouldn't use it unless it had to. Fae of the air more often than not avoid confrontations.

"What were you doing when it attacked?" Maybe they had provoked it somehow.

"We were on our way out of the city!"

"You were in the car?"

"YES!"

"So it just attacked you with a very powerful Wind spell for no reason?"

"YES! That's what I've been trying to tell you! I don't know what's going on, but after it killed my car it chased us around town for a bit before it left us alone. We tried fighting back but it just pushed us away with wind. We can't get near that thing. I was thinking that you might be able to help…" His voice died off towards the end. He was ashamed that he wasn't able to do this by himself. Typical young kids, always wanting to be independent.

Something clicked in my head. Leviathans also tended to be peaceful and not attack without warning. There was a chance that these two events were not unrelated. There could be something causing them to flip out. If I hadn't cooked that Leviathan to well-done I could have checked it. I'd have to settle with examining the Sprite.

"Alright. If I head out now I'll be there before 10. Where are you staying?" He gave me the name and address of his hotel and I wrote it down. We made plans to meet up then hung up. Tearing a sheet of paper from the same pad of paper that held his hotel address I wrote a note for Murphy telling her where I'd be. I quickly showered and got my stuff together, which was pretty easy since Murphy had left it by the door. Grabbing Mouse's leash I held it out to him, "Feel like a road trip?"

**A/N: Thank you everyone: over 1,000 hits! Also I am going to be taking a break from writing this fic for a bit to focus on my other fic, "They Came From Chicago" ( The first Castle crossover fic in history) which actually takes place before this one. So before I get any further in this one I need to finish off the other one. Don't worry though, the other one will only be about 5-6 chapters, while I have 10 or so planned for this one. Love reviews!**


	5. Yes, I'm still working on this fic

**A/N: Hello everyone! I'm so sorry that it's been so long since I last updated this fic. It's been over a year since I last wrote anything for this one, and since then I've gotten a new laptop and forgot to transfer my original notes on this, so I've kind of had to figure out where I wanted to go with this all over again. I hope to have this done before Thanksgiving so I can start on a few other fics that I've had floating around in my head for a while now. Enjoy!**

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The drive to Rockford was uneventful and relatively quick. It was late enough in the evening that traffic on I-90 was manageable. I find road trips to be relatively calming, especially on highways because almost all creatures, of this world and the Nevernever, stay away from them. The hour and a half drive passed without incident.

Like most towns in the Midwest, Rockford is surrounded by corn fields and small woods, making it host to a number of smaller fae. The guide that I had given to Billy the Werewolf to identify the local fae was something I was working on for the Paranet. I figured that if parks did it for the local wildlife then the magical communities out there should know about the more common local magical creatures. And of course, in a moment of good will and financial stupidity, I offered it to them for free. I know that as a Warden it's part of my job to help those in the magical community, but 75 color booklets from Kinko's isn't exactly cheap.

The Alphas were staying in a hotel called the Clock Tower—most likely due to the fact that it had a clock tower—and I was going to be spending a room with them.

I could tell that something was wrong as I pulled off I-90 towards Rockford. There was a sense of dark magic in the air. It's hard to describe what magic feels like to someone, like describing the taste or smell of cinnamon to someone without using the word 'cinnamon'. You can say it's like a tingling sensation in the back of your mind or a small pressure in your head, that's kind of what it's like for me most of the time. Of course, there are some kinds of magic that just feel completely different from others so explaining what magic feels like to someone is actually fairly useless. They call it "magic" and not "science" for a reason.

The check-in process wasn't very difficult, I was still tired from earlier and barely messed with their computers. Billy met me in the Lobby and we headed to his room, making small talk along the way. When we got to the room, I was surprised to find it empty.

"Where's everyone else?" I asked as I set my bag down.

Billy looked away as he said, "Well…."

I turned to face him. "Billy, just tell me. I've had a long day."

He raised his eyebrows at that, "You've had a long day? My car was just destroyed!"

I actually chuckled, "Oh please, do you know how many times MY car has been destroyed? It comes with the territory."

Billy cracked a weary smile, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever you say." He sat on one of the beds. He took a moment before continuing. "Everyone else is gone. Georgia didn't come with us because she has Midterms coming up, Kirby couldn't get time off from work and Andi headed back to Chicago when she heard you were coming." Billy looked a little ashamed when he was explaining why no one else was there. A few years ago there was always two or three Alphas on patrol every night. But life tends to get in the way, and most of the Alphas returned to the regular world and put their shape-shifting crusades behind them or only considered it a side hobby. Not Billy though, to Billy Borden, being an Alpha wasn't just something he did—it was who he was.

I sat down on one of the beds in the room, covered in folded bedsheets that looked like they belonged to the early 80's. Like most hotel beds, this one hovered right between being soft and firm making it easy for most people to fall asleep in. I shot a quick look at the green LED clock on the bedside stand that sat between the beds, and it told me it was much earlier than it felt like to me.

"Don't worry about it Billy." I said as I opened my bag and pulled out a pair of workout shorts and a T-shirt. "You and me will be plenty to take care of this. We'll start first thing in the morning."

"Tomorrow?" Billy sounded surprised. "I was hoping we'd get to finding that sprite tonight."

I stopped on my way to the restroom and turned to him. "Billy, so far I've had a Leviathan try to eat me, poison me and then had to become a human lightning conducter to stop it. I'm tired. We'll avenge your car in the morning." That made Billy blush a bit, but he nodded in understanding.

I had Billy set a wake up call for us, because I didn't trust the clcok in the room to stay functional through the night, and the phone was on the other side of the room. I layed down on the bed, pulled the covers up and was asleep before I realised my eyes were closed.

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**A/N: Small chapter, I know. But I wanted to put up something just to prove that I'm still working on this story. I've spent the last few weeks (not much time between college, working on my pilot liscense and my 2 jobs) finishing the outline for where I want this story to go. I've got a few more fics in the wings that I've been dying to start so I REALLY want to be done with this fic by the New Year. The next two chapters will be much longer.**

**Thanks for your continued support!**

**As always, PLEASE REVIEW!**


	6. AN: Updates

This is just a blanket update about all of my upcoming stories, and I've added this to all stories that I'm currently working on.

I've had a few ideas in my head for some fics for a few years now, but do to my real life duties (job/school/National Guard) I don't have much time to actually write. This is especially frustrating when I get plot ideas for a story that I am not currently working on.

To fix this problem, I will be working on my stories at the same time as inspiration strikes me. This may mean that I will update one story twice before any of the others get updated, but it keeps me writing and then I don't go through a dry period when I can't focus on one story when I can work on another.

This will affect the following stories:

**Whale of a Time (Dresden Files)**

**They Came To Chicago (Dresden Files/ Castle crossover sequel)**

**Search for the Spear Shaker (Fallout: New Vegas)**

**Big Gorram Treasure Hunt (Firefly/SGA crossover)**

Thank you very much for understanding.

**P.S.** Please Review! It lets me know what you like and gives me encouragement to write more!


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